Just Make Stuff

It's time...

As of this morning I weigh 167.6 pounds...that's up about 17 pounds from last year...and at the rate I'm going it'll keep rising.

I'm not in my full-fledged eat everything in site because I'm depressed mode as I was clear through the holidays dealing with the fact that all the infertility stuff didn't work, but things like last week's loaf of chocolate chip banana bread are just not going to work. 

I've done a decent job of staying committed to exercise, but I really need turn decent into excellent...as much as I hate starting it and am not all the crazy about doing it, I LOVE the feeling when I'm a sweaty, disgusting mess and it's done.

As for food...I need to stay away from sugar and make it a goal to get in lots of fruits and vegetables...I can do it...I CAN DO IT...I want to do it and the more I do it the more it'll just be a habit...a good habit.

Part of me feels foolish for being back here...AGAIN...trying to commit to the same old same old, but at least I'm trying I guess.

So my goals...

1) at least five fruits and vegetables a day

2) drink 128oz of water a day (right now I average about 80oz)

3) fruit instead of sweets

4) keep working on running...my specific goal is to be able to jog a couple of miles by November...we're planning on going to Oklahoma to surprise my dad for his 60th birthday and he's always been an avid jogger so I'm eager to go on a jog with him for the first time in my life

Hold me to this okay? :)

The three of us are off to my sister's to bring dinner and help move for a couple of hours...

This week...

Kind of blurry, but this was the back of my car earlier today...only about a third of them were mine...some poppies and ranuculas I could not resist...the rest were my sister's...because isn't it customary to buy a whole bunch of flowers a day or so before you're going to have your first baby? 

She found out this morning she's being induced Wednesday morning...oh and she's sort of moving into her new house this week too...hopefully we can help with all this fun and excitement.  So Wednesday I'll be camped out at the hospital awaiting the birth of my very first nephew.  I know I've mentioned this recently...but can I say again how weird it is for me to be in SUCH a different place in my life than just a year ago...but I'm working hard to embrace it...and I dare say it might be working.   

So this will be a busy week...I need to get a really solid to-do list together so that I'm not freaking out Friday night before the baby shower...I hate the feeling I have right now where I'm randomly jumping from one thing to another and remembering things haphazardly...even if I have endless things to do I'd rather have them organized and listed...dork that I am. 

Oh and can I brag?  It's Monday, I have my classes tomorrow, and I am not doing any schoolwork tonight. Why you ask?  Because I spent Friday night finishing up my lab for science and a few hours on Saturday and Sunday reading for history so I'm a couple weeks ahead at this point. I have to admit I'm totally proud of myself and my ability to ward off procrastination...of course I need to keep that up this week too...who am I kidding, I need to keep it up forever. :)

One day down two to go...

This is how I spent most of my day...finishing up our Ireland scrapbook...only one more layout to go...and tackling the ever-growing pile of paperwork on my desk and imputing it into my palm pilot...including Sean and Mac's schedules for next school year...I figured if I have the calendars now I might as well get it done. 

We have nothing planned this weekend...for the first time in about a month...just lazy days that really won't really be lazy since I want to get a lot done.

Speaking of which, right now I am going to finish up my science lab from yesterday...answer all the questions and make my excel graph...I usually wait till Monday to get it done, but I'm going to be GOOD and get it done tonight. 

Tomorrow I plan on downing a pot of tea and sitting out on the front porch doing my history reading while Sean is at school starting an after-school history class that has to be a Saturday class until basketball season is over next month...and I want to really clean Mac's room while he's gone...and I want to finish up preparations for hosting the another baby shower next Saturday.

But first science...

Got them...

the first of many baskets this year...they smell so good...I really think that's my favorite part...well that and dipping them into sour cream and then into brown sugar...that's my very favorite part...leave it to me to take something healthy and annihilate it with calories. :)

My science lab today was a "fishing" experiment which required my group to count over 3,000 lima & pinto bean "fish" as we simulated the various techniques commercial fisherman use (which of course made me think of the Bettencourt/Damrosch family)...I was so glad when that was over.

Now I'm sitting by the fireplace on a cold, rainy night after a good dinner and anxiously waiting for Grey's Anatomy to start...add a little glass of wine after Mac goes to bed and it'll be perfect. :)

Hamburger Chop Suey

This is one of those recipes my mom would make for us growing up...quick and good.  I substitute beef broth for the 2 cups of water to give it more flavor...oh and I try to get it all made and then let it simmer for the 20 minutes the rice takes to cook so that it's more flavorful too.

 

1 pound ground beef

1 onion chopped

1/2 cup celery

1 tsp beef bullion

2 cup hot water

1/4 cup cold water

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp corn starch

8 oz can sliced water chestnuts

4 c cooked rice

 

Brown beef in skillet with onion and celery. Drain the beef and vegetables of all the fat. Add bullion to hot water or broth and pour into the skillet. Boil then reduce heat.  Drain the can of water chestnuts and add to the skillet. Mix cold water, corn starch and soy sauce together and stir into skillet.  Simmer as it thickens for twenty minutes.

Should...

be writing science flashcards in a major way...or exercising to burn off my breakfast--a delicious piece of chocolate chip banana bread Sean baked last night because I'm the luckiest girl ever. Instead I'm in full procrastination mode as usual...best way to do that?  Scrapbook. :)

One of those days...

that starts off with the birds singing and everything is right with the world?  You sit on the front porch snacking on a banana before leaving for class and notice the very beginning of new leaves on the little trees you worried you cut back so much that they'd surely be dead.

That was my day...blue skies...the house is pretty clean...my schoolwork is done...all is well.

Then I got to my two classes and realized I have 100's of pages to read for history in the next two weeks and will have to have dozens of science terms memorized for a quiz on Thursday. 

Then my new ATM card (third one in less than a year because the bank says again there's a possibility my old one has been "compromised") wouldn't work at Trader Joe's which meant I couldn't get cash back like I had hoped so I could stop by my favorite produce stand and get my first fresh strawberries of the year AND I had to drive down to the bank branch to fix the pin number.

So, now my wonderful day has turned into a grumpy mess...hopefully a long walk will improve my mood...and I'll go and buy some strawberries tomorrow because I got cash out at the bank...and our trees are growing...so really all is well. :)

The day I kind of jinxed Phil Mickelson...

Our neighbor and good friend is the HR manager for Cleveland Golf and, in addiction to the discounted clubs Sean can get his hands on, she gets a few perks like clubhouse tickets to today's Nissan Open...since she couldn't go this year she passed them on to Sean, Mac and I. 

I was pretty darn excited at the prospect of seeing all this in person having watched golf on television for years....just hearing the first, "Uugahh" sound of disappointment coming from the crowd when a player missed a shot made my heart jump.

So, the one player I was dying to see was Phil Michelson and as we stood waiting by the bottom of the green on the ninth hole I said to Sean that I wanted him to hit the ball right by us...and wouldn't you know I got my wish, but it wouldn't have been Phil's wish because we were kind of in a lousy spot...I'll spare you the golf terminology and suffice it to say he kind of totally messed up the shot right in front of us...I felt so bad...and I felt even worse when he ultimately lost the tournament after a three-hole playoff...all the while Sean was ruthlessly teasing me that I jinxed him. 

Despite supposedly ruining Phil's round we had such a great time...and apparently we were on TV too...I checked my e-mail while we were stuck in traffic on the way home and I got an e-mail from someone (Hi Megan) who reads my blog and saw us during that fateful shot...how cool is that?  We didn't think to TIVO it before we left though.

Oh well, there's always next year and hopefully I'll get to be there again (we already put in our request along with our major thank you when we got home)...and next time I'll keep my mouth shut. :)

We're off...

to a wedding tonight...it's Sean's fellow eighth grade RSP teacher, I figure if she's wearing a red wedding dress then I could wrap their gifts in hot pink and black...off to get dressed (excited to wear this polka dot skirt that I asked them to make a little longer and without the petticoat last December--such great customer service) and head out...

That's music to my addicted ears...

Was my reply when my sister-in-law's (who lives in Iowa) e-mail started to describe how she's really getting into scrapbooking...I'm kind of thrilled to see her sucked in to the best hobby ever.  When she went on today to say that she ordered some stuff on-line and was so excited when it came, she needs to figure out a way to organize her growing supplies, and on Monday she wants to get some photos from her parents to make a book for them I knew I HAD to help add to that supply stash, right?  It's my self-appointed duty as an ambassador of scrapbooking. :)  So I grabbed her some stuff when I went to get myself some new 7 Gypsies at Scrapbook Oasis and then tonight I grabbed an empty embroidery floss box and went through my supplies filling it with pinches of everything I could think of.  Her pizza box will be off in the mail tomorrow...she'll probably thinking I'm crazy...scratch that...she already knows I'm crazy. :)

Thursday...

My long day at school...both classes and then my lab for three and a half hours...but I've been lucky we've finished up early the last two weeks...not so lucky that I had to scrutinize gross, scary, dead bugs today though.

I had my mom and sister over for dinner tonight...Sean had to go back to school for an open house so it was the three of us and Mac who was thrilled to have them here.  I snapped this photo before they came over because I actually set the table which I'm a bad mom and never seem to do...truth be told we kind of eat dinner in front of the TV which I know is so not good...and seeing the table set tonight reminded me that I should do it more often...like all the time.

Speaking of my sister I'm starting to get lots of questions about how the end of her pregnancy going...it's so weird to say words again like, "dilation and effaced" at the same exact time as last year...I try and replace any painful tugs on my heart with reminders of my recent revelation that this might work out pretty well for me.  I get to be an Aunt...I can totally be a major presence in this little boy's life...but it's all the perks...I won't be losing any sleep or dealing with lots of crying...doesn't sound too bad. :)   I'm actually kind of excited.

Oh and the banner...please know I'm not telling anyone to go to hell...this is a saying that my dad's mom always had hanging in her house before it was given to my mom...I think it's just about the best saying ever and thought it would be fun to craft up with a little shamrock in light of St. Patrick's Day coming soon...that's all. :)

Off to watch Grey's since it's 9:40pm we can watch it now and skip through all of the commercials...what ever did we do before we got a DVR???

My Valentine...

I made this last week...I often describe my layouts as a mess, but after I got started on this I was actually was trying to make this one messy just for fun.

So today is the big V day and I want to say something about Sean.

I just love him...and although that's true everyday (for the most part) and we manage to celebrate it in little ways on any old day...since today's all about the love I'd thought I'd shout it out to the world.  To tie our life into the fictional characters of Grey's Anatomy that I'm obsessed with Sean is my, "knight in shining whatever"...I am so that girl...all kinds of screwed up and he tries anyway...and that makes me damn lucky. 

Life can seem pretty idealistic here in blog land, so let me make the sweeping statement that we don't have a perfect relationship--which we all seem to know means we can throw down a death match with the best of them, but somehow through all of it we're stronger and miraculously are able to grow together AND kind of really like each other.

I don't know exactly what year we started it...I think it was maybe our very first Valentine's Day nine years ago...but we have a tradition of making our gifts for each other...I can't tell you what I made him because he'll read this and he won't even give me a hint of what he's made me, but I can report there's been lots of power-tool noise and some pink paint in the garage.

I decided to wrap his gift as a card in a brown paper bag with some paint smeared on it and put my new Jenni Bowlin kit to use...here's a peek...

can't wait for him to get home from basketball practice to exchange gifts...and apparently he's bring me home a surprise dinner too...yea for Valentine's Day! :)

Getting Close...

Thankfully these are all packaged up ready for Mac's class tomorrow...nothing too creative...but homemade and done.

I got all my school work finished too and no homework from today's classes so I have a day's respite.  Yesterday Mac was studying for his science test and I heard him reciting the questions and answers..."environment"..."ecology"...I realized he and I are learning the same information right now.  When I pointed this out to him he said that I was actually getting to DO the science like use beakers and stuff and beakers apparently are really cool...little did I know that I was living the dream. :)

Off to wrap Sean's Valentine's gift...

Hello old friend...

I had to break out the scientific calculator today...literally had to wipe dust off the screen.  I have to do math...and science...I have to finish my lab write-up to hand in tomorrow and I'm totally dragging my feet.  I have made procrastination an art-form. If I have any schoolwork to do I immediately have an overwhelming need to have the house spotless...and every inconsequential detail of life attended to before I can sit down and just get it done.  I'm going to do it though...right now...finish it and put it away all ready for tomorrow...oh but I have just one thing to say before I get started...

Thank you.

I have been ever so lucky to get a handful of congratulatory e-mails and comments in the last day and they mean so much to me.  The best gift this hobby has given me is my friendships...and hopefully every friend I have knows that means a whole lot considering how much I LOVE patterned paper and stamps...seriously thank you guys. :)

Cheese & chocolate...

and champagne made me gain three pounds last night...I wish I was kidding, but I'm not...it was SO good though...and now that we've done it two years in a row I think it's fair to say it's a tradition...thankfully a yearly one because I cannot afford to get any fatter.  Oh but was it good...and fun...stringy cheese all over the place...we laughed so hard we cried...and apparently I was a major source of entertainment because of the aforementioned champagne...hiccups and everything. :)  Yet I wasn't too intoxicated to realize I could get a cool photo from the reflection of our fondue pot complete with one of our friends making a funny face.

So now it's Sunday of a three day weekend which makes it all the more palatable...and it's raining which I love.  Mac has actually been great so far...we let him (and his spelling flashcards) spend the night at my mom's and he's due home in about an hour so we can tackle some kind of homemade Valentines for his class on Wednesday. Oh and speaking of classes, my Amy Tangerine class has changed my life...okay that was a little dramatic...but seriously she taught us the coolest technique that I will probably try to use on everything in sight. :)  I'll try and post my t-shirt later when I don't look quite as ragged as I do after a night of cheese, chocolate & champagne.

Crime & Punishment...

This parenting stuff is no fun sometimes.  I am ALL about the discipline....following through on punishments...trying to teach about responsibility, respect...blah, blah, blah.  Well this weekend I REALLY need to live out all that talk.

Mr. McIntosh, dear child that he is, finally got what was coming to him this week when he totally bombed a spelling test he continually dragged his feet studying for.  So Bryce and I had a summit last night about how we need to come up with an iron clad punishment to try to instill the fact that you have to fulfill your responsibilities otherwise you face the consequences.  We decided that Mac would stay with Sean and I this weekend so we could be the enforcers. Bryce is in the middle of a big study and needs to go into work a lot this weekend which would mean trying to get his various family members on board with Mac's punishment of no television whatsoever...we decided it was too much of a logistical risk and if Mac got away with watching any we might as well not even punish him anyway...since our authority would be non-existent.

We presented this to Mac together via speaker-phone tonight and despite the initial tears, he took it pretty well.  Yet, now we have to enforce all weekend and that's as much a punishment for us as it is for him...but oh well...it's all in the name of good parenting.  Of course hell if I know what it takes to be a good parent, but we do TRY...and then I guess we just hope, right?

ETA

You know it's weird, I'll put just about anything out there, but I've had this entry sitting on my desktop almost all night...afraid to post it...what if someone thinks I'm punishing Mac too much...what if someone knows better and it turns out I'm handling this all wrong...what if someone thinks I'm a bad parent?  I guess I'm doubtful of my skills...constantly feeling like I'm still way too young to have a drop of wisdom.

Wow now I've REALLY put it all out there :)

Okay THAT was fun...

Okay so it's crappy lighting, but I didn't want to wait until morning to share...that and I'll be busy getting ready for my marathon day at school. 

My creative manifesto...there are no rules, create anything & everything, make a mess (and then clean it up), save memories, be all kinds of colorful, and attempt art.  I used a big frame I had and actually just stuck the various pieces down on the cardboard that came with it.

Okay now I have to a little schoolwork and organizing before I head to bed...

Clouds make me happy...

Of course it's getting sunny now...but opening those blinds this morning and seeing the clouds and fog made me happy...all cool and cozy...and after taking Mac to school, I have nowhere I need to be today...granted I have to start some schoolwork, but at least I can do it in my pajamas. :)

Saw this flower in the backyard this morning...it's just about the only flower out there right now...our backyard is in need of some serious TLC.

Okay...off to be lazy...of course I just got my AEzine for the week and it's about making a creative manifesto...sounds fun...like a good way to keep procrastinating on exercising and that darn schoolwork...

Oh good...

Made this card right now for a college friend that I do the whole pen-pal thing with...in this day of e-mail it's still more fun to open up my mailbox and see an actual letter among the bills and catalogs.  I had the rainbow-hued scraps leftover from a layout I made last night about being an 80's girl...gathered all my favorite 80's songs together on my I-pod to bounce around to as I was working on it.   

My classes were good...my 11am history class miraculously had three other moms in it...yeah for not being the only person over age 19! :)  Science should be a new challenge, but I really liked the professor and I figure with a good enough teacher I can learn just about anything.  Lots of field-trips later this spring which should be interesting...tide pools, wilderness hikes and other things that will be an a different experience considering I am so not the outdoor-sy type.

I have to rush off to dinner with some Freckle Friends...I'll have to post the layouts and maybe an 80's play-list later...oh and I need to type up my Curry Chicken Salad recipe from Saturday for the cooking blog too...hopefully tomorrow...

Um, yeah...

That's just about seven inches of patterned paper that I cleaned out of my collection earlier today...and it felt GOOD.  It was fun to remind myself of what I have and love...oldies but goodies...and it's even better knowing that now I have lots of room for when I find more patterns that I'd die without. :) 

Here we go...

I start the spring semester of school this week...Women in History, Environmental Biology and it's corresponding lab...so I'll be there Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sean starts coaching 7th grade girl's basketball after-school for the next seven weeks (and I'm all mopey since he'll be home late each night...of course late is 5pm so I should just shut up). And Mac, well he doesn't start anything big this week and thankfully his big state report that's due this week is all finished.

I've known this stuff has been coming for a couple of months now...and it'll be good to pick up the pace of life...but part of me LOVES the downtime...oh well...here we go. :)

Before I fall over...

dead from exhaustion I'll just share some photos from the last couple of days...

For baby showers we make five different kinds of tea sandwiches on dyed Pullman loaves...they're usually pretty pastels perfect for shower...the bakery must have change their dye because this time the bread was technicolored

Sean, my altering guru, helped me make little composition notebooks for prizes...wrapped them up with some chocolate and they were all set (as you can see my "Take Note" stamp obsession continues)

The house all ready to party...

My sister being silly with the spread...see what I mean about the bread?

Mac and my mom in action at diaper stacking game we played

Me and my Suessical the Musical cadet fresh off is performance

Off to bed so I'm all fresh and cheery to see the Bears win the Superbowl...just because I've lived in California for 28 of my 30 years doesn't mean I'm not a Midwestern girl at heart!

A little of both...

Made the invitations (the circle paper clip holds directions and registy cards on the back) AND played with my new Hambly (and new "Take Note" Fontwerks stamp I'm officially obsessed with)...

The second layout will actually be a title page for my 7th scrapbook of just my own stuff...which is kinda craziness, but fun craziness :)...I used the lyrics from my new favorite song, "World" by Five for Fighting...just love the thought of "history starts now"

Lots going on around here with baby shower #1 Saturday (we've been trying to do baby shower #2 stuff at the same time so it's just done), Mac's musical this weekend, and a get-together with friends for the Superbowl...even though I'm looking forward to all of it I'm slightly totally overwhelmed right now... :)